Fleetwood homeowners say mining blasts cause problems

Members of community suing company

Strip mining and blasting by Black Warrior Minerals Inc. is the focus of a lawsuit filed by several members of the nearby Fleetwood community. The lawsuit claims that the company’s operations have damaged property in the area.

Michelle Lepianka Carter | Tuscaloosa News

By Stephanie TaylorStaff Writer

Published: Sunday, June 23, 2013 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, June 22, 2013 at 10:42 p.m.

Several members of the Fleetwood community say nearby strip mining has caused serious structural problems to their homes and property.

Six people who live in the small community along Alabama Highway 216 filed a lawsuit in March against Black Warrior Minerals Inc., the Walker County-based company that operated the Fleetwood Mine.

They say the dynamite blasts used at the strip-mining site have caused their house foundations and sheetrock to crack, among other problems.

Dust, fumes and other contaminants have drifted toward their homes and sometimes make it difficult to see, Larry Morrison said. A pond on his mother-in-law’s property that was built around 1965 inexplicably drained earlier this month, over the course of about a week.

Morrison blames the mining operations, which are 600 feet through a wooded area from her property.

Miners have been extracting coal from this area of Tuscaloosa County for decades. It’s the southern end of the Appalachian Coal basin, which spans 187,600 square miles in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. Morrision said the area’s residents have worked with mining companies before when problems arose.

“We’ve been dealing with coal mining here for 50 years,” he said. “If they were messing something up, they’d talk to you about it.”

He said Black Warrior Minerals has not responded to their complaints. Company president Roger Perry had no comment about the lawsuit. Company attorneys did not respond to requests for comments, although they did deny the allegations of nuisance, trespass, outrageous conduct, negligence and wantonness in a court filing.

Morrison and his neighbor, Jim Darnell, said Black Warrior Minerals could employ techniques that would lessen the impact of the blasts.

Doug Lawrence lives near Adger and filed a lawsuit against Twin Pines LLC in 2011. He wants the company to reimburse him for the damage he says the company caused and hopes to stop the mining from impacting other people.

“All over the state they’re doing this,” he said. “What these companies are doing is basically saying, ‘We don’t care.’ ”

He has video cameras set up around his home to record the vibrations caused by the blasts. Some of the cameras are focused on other cameras to prove that he didn’t shake the camera himself. He has spoken with the Fleetwood residents about his experience with the mining company and is documenting the damage at his house.

Black Warrior Minerals has been mining the area for five or six years, the men said, but began mining the area close to their property about a year ago.

Morrison said a water pipe on his mother’s property was recently damaged, which resulted in a $1,218 water bill for May. He said his carport and pool have shifted because of the dynamite blasts. Darnell said he has to pump water from his storm shelter when it rains now because of cracked walls.

“We had a double stove that moved out from the cabinets because of the blasts. Water came in through the vent and shorted out, so we had to buy a new stove,” he said.

The Alabama Surface Mining Commission is the primary regulatory authority for surface and underground mines.

When issuing permits, the agency uses a formula that considers the distance of the closest structure that’s not on mining property to determine the frequency and intensity of blasts allowed. Commission employees weren’t in the office Thursday or Friday and could not answer whether Fleetwood Mine has violated any blasting regulations.

<p>Several members of the Fleetwood community say nearby strip mining has caused serious structural problems to their homes and property.</p><p>Six people who live in the small community along Alabama Highway 216 filed a lawsuit in March against Black Warrior Minerals Inc., the Walker County-based company that operated the Fleetwood Mine. </p><p>They say the dynamite blasts used at the strip-mining site have caused their house foundations and sheetrock to crack, among other problems.</p><p>Dust, fumes and other contaminants have drifted toward their homes and sometimes make it difficult to see, Larry Morrison said. A pond on his mother-in-law's property that was built around 1965 inexplicably drained earlier this month, over the course of about a week. </p><p>Morrison blames the mining operations, which are 600 feet through a wooded area from her property.</p><p>Miners have been extracting coal from this area of Tuscaloosa County for decades. It's the southern end of the Appalachian Coal basin, which spans 187,600 square miles in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. Morrision said the area's residents have worked with mining companies before when problems arose.</p><p>“We've been dealing with coal mining here for 50 years,” he said. “If they were messing something up, they'd talk to you about it.”</p><p>He said Black Warrior Minerals has not responded to their complaints. Company president Roger Perry had no comment about the lawsuit. Company attorneys did not respond to requests for comments, although they did deny the allegations of nuisance, trespass, outrageous conduct, negligence and wantonness in a court filing.</p><p>Morrison and his neighbor, Jim Darnell, said Black Warrior Minerals could employ techniques that would lessen the impact of the blasts.</p><p>Doug Lawrence lives near Adger and filed a lawsuit against Twin Pines LLC in 2011. He wants the company to reimburse him for the damage he says the company caused and hopes to stop the mining from impacting other people. </p><p>“All over the state they're doing this,” he said. “What these companies are doing is basically saying, 'We don't care.' ”</p><p>He has video cameras set up around his home to record the vibrations caused by the blasts. Some of the cameras are focused on other cameras to prove that he didn't shake the camera himself. He has spoken with the Fleetwood residents about his experience with the mining company and is documenting the damage at his house.</p><p>Black Warrior Minerals has been mining the area for five or six years, the men said, but began mining the area close to their property about a year ago.</p><p>Morrison said a water pipe on his mother's property was recently damaged, which resulted in a $1,218 water bill for May. He said his carport and pool have shifted because of the dynamite blasts. Darnell said he has to pump water from his storm shelter when it rains now because of cracked walls.</p><p>“We had a double stove that moved out from the cabinets because of the blasts. Water came in through the vent and shorted out, so we had to buy a new stove,” he said. </p><p>The Alabama Surface Mining Commission is the primary regulatory authority for surface and underground mines.</p><p>When issuing permits, the agency uses a formula that considers the distance of the closest structure that's not on mining property to determine the frequency and intensity of blasts allowed. Commission employees weren't in the office Thursday or Friday and could not answer whether Fleetwood Mine has violated any blasting regulations.</p><p>Reach Stephanie Taylor at stephanie.taylor@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0210.</p>